CMC Financial Group Invests $226,000 in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

CMC Financial Group acquired a new position in shares of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,096 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000. Garmin makes up approximately 0.5% of CMC Financial Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GRMN. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Garmin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Garmin by 578.6% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 190 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in Garmin during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Garmin during the third quarter worth $39,000. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GRMN shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Garmin to a “sell” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $158.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $265.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Garmin from $219.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.80.

Garmin Stock Performance

NYSE GRMN opened at $209.78 on Monday. Garmin Ltd. has a 52-week low of $138.86 and a 52-week high of $246.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $216.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.81. The company has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a PE ratio of 28.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.96.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.51. Garmin had a net margin of 22.42% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Garmin Ltd. will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Garmin’s payout ratio is 49.25%.

Insider Transactions at Garmin

In other news, COO Patrick Desbois sold 6,911 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.15, for a total value of $1,569,833.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 63,048 shares in the company, valued at $14,321,353.20. This trade represents a 9.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,763 shares of Garmin stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.55, for a total transaction of $625,957.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,550.80. The trade was a 8.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,342 shares of company stock worth $5,486,094 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

About Garmin

Garmin Ltd. designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of wireless devices worldwide. Its Fitness segment offers running and multi-sport watches; cycling products; smartwatch devices; scales and monitors; and fitness accessories. This segment also provides Garmin Connect and Garmin Connect Mobile, which are web and mobile platforms where users can track and analyze their fitness, activities and workouts, and wellness data; and Connect IQ, an application development platform.